How does the uncontested divorce new york end? In other words, once the petitioner files a case for dissolution of marriage, how does the case end? Generally, divorce cases end in one of two ways—the parties settle all aspects of the divorce, or, the parties never come to an agreement, and their case goes to trial, where the judge resolves the issue after a hearing with each party's evidence .
In contentious traditional divorce cases, there is little coordination between the parties on how to resolve the case. One party hires a lawyer, files for divorce, and has the other party serve it. Generally, once served, that spouse goes out and hires its own attorney. From there, the parties exchange information — appraisals, bank statements, retirement account details, the balance of any outstanding debt, and a host of other information. The purpose of this exchange of documents is to identify all assets and liabilities involved in the case, in order to assist the two parties to reach a settlement as soon as possible. Does this happen often? Hardly, the exchange of documents is only the first step in a long and brutal process of contentious divorce.
This article is not about contested divorces, nor does it explain how exactly a contested case differs from an uncontested one. For an in-depth discussion of how the timing of uncontested divorces differs from that of contested divorces, check out this article, which provides a detailed comparison of the timelines for uncontested and contested cases. It may also be worth looking at a rundown of the advantages and disadvantages of Uncontested Divorce NY and contested divorces.
An uncontested divorce skips the initial steps involved in a contested case that I outlined above. Instead, go to a lawyer after the parties have come to an agreement on all aspects of the divorce. In other words, both parties agree to all applicable aspects of the divorce, thereby skipping a significant portion of the divorce timeline, thereby skipping filing, service, discovery, negotiation, and court appearances. By doing so, the divorce process is simplified and the financial burden is greatly reduced.
In order for a divorce to be considered uncontested, the spouses must agree on all of the issues involved in the dissolution case, including but not limited to:
- Who will take which assets after dissolution?
- After the final divorce, who is responsible for each debt?
- Does debt, like a mortgage or car loan, need to be refinanced to remove an irresponsible spouse? If so, how long does the spouse need to refinance? What if the spouse cannot refinance, how will this situation be handled?
- Is one party responsible for paying child support (alimonium) to the other, and if so, how much and for how long?
- What are the child custody arrangements? Details that must be considered include transportation, visits, vacation visit schedules, holidays, school year and summer schedules, etc.
- Will child support be paid? If so, you and your spouse must work out all child support arrangements, including who will pay child support, how much child support will be paid (if any), who will pay for the child’s health insurance, day care How payments will be made, who will declare children as dependents on taxes, how college fees will be paid, etc.
- In order for your divorce to be considered uncontested, you even need to figure out who will pay the court costs.
- For a more in-depth discussion of what needs to be addressed in order for your divorce to be considered uncontested, see the Uncontested Divorce Checklist.
As you can see, everything must be agreed for your divorce to be considered uncontested. Clients often ask me if they can have their spouse pay some of the attorney's fees. The short answer is no, not in an uncontested divorce. In an uncontested divorce, neither I nor the court "made" one party do anything. The two parties can of course agree that one party will pay the expenses, or reimburse part of the expenses to the other party. In this case, the divorce is still uncontested because paying the attorney's fees is just one of many issues that must be agreed upon in order to have an uncontested divorce.
So, what is an uncontested divorce? An uncontested divorce https://bgdivorcelawyersny.com/practice/uncontested-divorces-queens/: is like any other divorce. However, in an uncontested divorce, the parties can agree on the division of property, division of debts, alimony/alimony, and (if applicable) child custody and support. By doing so, both parties give themselves an opportunity to walk out of the divorce without incurring the financially devastating costs often associated with the protracted litigation associated with contested cases.